Had the 2010 Domaine de Beaurenard, CdR last night. Love the nose of cherry and nutmeg after a little dust blew off. Not a big wine, going instead for elegance. A balanced, well made wine which I really enjoyed. 90 points.

If they did this well with their regular CdR bottling, I'm sure the Rasteau will be excellent too. It's usually a bigger, brawnier style.

Had the 2010 Michel Gassier Cercius a few nights back with pan seared filet and shitakes. The sauce was seasoned with a dash of fresh thyme, and I was hoping for a little garrigue to play around with. No garrigue, but an interesting bottle. VERY dark and rich for CdR. Grenache driven. If I'd tasted this blind, I'd probably have guessed Spain.

A little off topic...I went CdR hunting recently and picked up the 2009 Janasse CdR . I hadn't seen it before and I love the producer so I bit.

This is a wonderful medium/full bodied CdR, and the tannins aren't rough like many other 2009s. This has great pure fruit and garrigue with a smooth finish and no hard edges. I will probably go back for more (if I get around to it in time). I think it was about $15.

I tried a couple more recently. The 2010 Domaine Cros de Romet and the 2010 Chateau de Galifay. Both are Villages, Cairanne bottlings. No notes taken, but I liked the latter better. The Romet was hot, which made me look at that label and discover it was 16% alcohol.

wow, i musta grabbed a bad bottle of this. i saw it at a wine shop, thinking it would be another no-brainer CdR purchase. but my bottle was flat and generic. i will grab another based on these two posts. thanks, guys.

I opened a 2010 St. Cosme CdR yesterday. The wine presented all kinds of interesting characteristics - including sour cherry, citrus, coffee grounds, licorice, and smoke. However, the citrus note was most prevalent. I followed the wine over 3+ hours and it showed no signs of fading. I suspect it has several more years of evolution ahead.

"I'm just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe." - Jango Fett